Ptolemy Claudius named them after the Carpathians and the Baltic Sea. Perhaps they were the ones who founded Venice. The King of Sweden (Gustav I) proudly called himself their king. It is likely that they are the ancestors of the Slavs.
Slavs?
This ancient group of tribes appeared on the territory of Europe in the 1st millennium BC. as a result of "contact of the Romans with the tribes of the southern Baltic". One of the first mentions of the Wends belongs to Herodotus of Halicarnassus and dates back to the 5th century BC: "Amber is brought from the Eridani River from the Enets (Veneti)."
In the 1st century A. D. Ruble Cornelius Tacitus designates the territory of the Wends as the area between the Vistula River (Vistula) and the Estyians (Zsty), but doubts the fairness of attributing them to the Germans or Sarmatians. The Veneds used shields, moved on foot, set up houses, which correlated weakly with the lifestyle of the Sarmatians, who preferred to constantly "be on horseback" and perceived carts as "home".
A century later, Ptolemy Claudius called the Baltic Sea the Venedian Gulf of the Sarmatian Ocean, and the Carpathians - the Venedian Mountains.
On the Peitinger map (edition of the 1st - 5th centuries AD), the Wends are localized twice. For the first time (like Venadi) - from the north of the Carpathians, later (like Venedi) - in the lower reaches of the Danube.
The 6th century Gothic historian Jordan published an outline of the beginning of the history of the Slavs. Jordan puts forward the opinion that the names "Vend", "Wend" and "Slav" were used to refer to the same people. The historian uses these names alternately, which indicates that in the VI century the identity of the Slavs with the Wends was recognized:
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“At the left slope (of the Alps), descending to the north, starting from the birthplace of the Vistula River, a populous tribe of Venets is located in immense spaces. Although their names now change according to different clans and localities, they are mostly called sklavins."
Based on this and other surviving written records of the Wends, the latter are often directly identified with the Slavs. However, the Wends are much older.
Veneti, Veneti and Vandals
Aleksey Khomyakov and other historians of the 19th century did not differentiate between Venets, Wends and Vandals. They attributed all three groups to the ancient Slavs. Hence the hypothesis that it was the Slavs who founded Venice.
Old Russian ("The Tale of Bygone Years") and medieval Lithuanian legends ("About Palemon") mark the Norik region as the habitat of the Illyrian Veneti, where there were never any Slavs or ancient Balts. In the process of migrating north to the southern shores of the Baltic Sea, the Venets, mixing with the local Baltic tribes, could well have turned into Wends.
This is also consistent with the legend about the formation of the Czech people, described in the book of Prokop Sloboda.
The 6th century Gothic historian Jordan was the first to describe the history of the Slavs, the words "Wend", "Wend" and "Slav" were used to denote the same people. The historian uses these names interchangeably, which indicates that the identity of the Slavs with the Wends was recognized in the 6th century:
“After the division of the peoples, the sons of Shem took the eastern countries, and the sons of Ham took the southern countries, the Japheths took the west and the northern countries. From the same 70 and 2 languages came the Slavic people, from the tribe of Japheth - the so-called noriks, which are the essence of the Slavs"
King Gustav I of Sweden proudly regarded himself as a Wends. His magnificent triple title sounded like this: "King of the Swedes, Göts and Wends."
In The Chant in the Illustrative Descriptions of Johannes Messenus, the author attaches to the origin of the Wends as a people, the meaning of God-chosenness:
"Udin, with the military help of the Wends allied to him, took possession of the entire European part of Sarmatia and the land from which the Vandals were recently expelled, and the Wends settled in their place, and the sea near their new habitat was later called the Venedian Gulf."
Other hypotheses
The ethnonym "Wends" is known on the Adriatic coast. The modern Italian province of Veneto and the city of Venice, even in their names, designated the Veneti people.
Historians know other tribes with a similar name. In particular, the Venetian Celts, which were mentioned by Julius Caesar in the "Notes on the Gallic War".
Corresponding member of the Imperial Academy of Sciences Alexander Nikolaevich Popov connects the name of the Wends with the legendary people of the Vanir from German mythology. The Vanir belong to the group of gods of the Germanic-Scandinavian pantheon. Even the legendary aces were inferior to them in age and wisdom.
Vanaheim was considered the habitat of the Vanir - the country of the Northern Black Sea coast to the west of the Don River (Vanakvisl), as mentioned in the Old Icelandic "Saga of the Inglings".
What do linguists know about the Wends?
Linguistics also supports the hypothesis that the Wends are our ancestors. The word "Russian" is translated into Finnish as "Venäläinen", "Rus" - "Veneman", Russia in Estonian - "Venemaa". Karelian "Veneä" means "Rus".
The Slovak scientist Pavel Shafranik finds the term “rusa” in this Proto-Slavonic language and interprets it as “river”. “This root Slavic word, as a common noun, has already remained in use only among some Russians in the word“channel”, the scientist concludes.
Where did they go?
At the turn of the 4th - 5th centuries, the era of the Great Nations Migration began. The Veneds scattered over various territories. However, they did not disappear without a trace. The name of the people and the accumulated genetic memory link the branches of the ancient people with the idea of common roots.